Radovan Papović
1950 — 2022
Conductor · professor · in memoriam
Born in Herceg Novi, Radovan Papović shaped the musical life of Montenegro from the conductor's podium for more than two decades. He conducted the RTV Titograd Symphony Orchestra, taught choral singing and orchestra at the Music Academy, and founded the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra.
He graduated in conducting from the Faculty of Music in Belgrade in 1977 and completed postgraduate studies in Sarajevo in 1986. In 1980 he founded the Women's Chamber Choir, regarded as one of the finest ensembles of its kind in the former Yugoslavia.
With the choir he won third prize at the international choral competition in Middlesbrough in 1986, and first prizes at the Yugoslav choral competitions in Niš in 1988 and 1990.
In 1999 he founded the Academic Chamber Orchestra, from which the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra emerged in 2000. The orchestra made its debut at the Bar Chronicle festival with a programme of music from the Montenegrin court, also recorded on CD with works by Montenegrin and foreign composers of the 19th century and soprano Vjera Miranović-Mikić.
Maestro Papović died in 2022. Two years later the documentary ‘Svega će biti – maestro Radovan Papović’, directed by Čedomir Marković, was released; in 2026 it won the ‘Desimir Stanojević Desko’ Grand Prix for best direction at the documentary film festival in Niška Banja.
- Graduates in conducting from the Faculty of Music, Belgrade
- Founds the Women's Chamber Choir
- Postgraduate studies in Sarajevo; third prize in Middlesbrough
- Founds the Academic Chamber Orchestra
- The Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra debuts with a programme of music from the Montenegrin court
Sources & recordings